


until the lights go out

by cheinsaw



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Touhou Project
Genre: Child Death, Gen, IT'S ME, but it's the missing children incident so already in canon, yabai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-14 23:31:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2207166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheinsaw/pseuds/cheinsaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small-time engineer and mechanic Nitori takes an overnight guard shift at a family restaurant, hoping for an opportunity to interact with the inner workings of its infamous animatronics. Instead, she gets a missing person case (or five, or six), several near-death experiences, and the chance to solve the pizzeria's dark, haunting secrets—before she becomes another of its victims.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i couldn't stop thinking about which touhous would be most likely to survive freddy's, and came up with yuugi (strong as hell; could shut doors with bare hands), mokou (knows no fear and would dropkick a robot), and nitori (literally an engineer! could make a power supply out of three sticks and a coconut). you can't just let innovation like that go to waste.
> 
> allegedly the creator said that the animatronics are actually ~haunted~ and the player has to figure out their own interpretation of that aspect if they want, so here i am!

Nitori drops her bag, making a loud _thunk_ in the otherwise quiet restaurant. The security office is small, just wide enough for her to stretch her legs—and Nitori has not been blessed with long legs—and flanked by a door on either side, to each of the hallways. It smells faintly of stale food grease and spoiled milk, but with something more vile and decaying under it if she concentrates hard enough. But money is money, she reminds herself, and money is not something she has a lot of. It’s only a week, after all! A hundred and twenty for an easy job that only lasts a week is still pretty good, even if it's in a place that feels somehow wrong at night.

As she settles into the sagging swivel chair, she tries to relax herself. Sure, it’s kind of crappy, but hey, there’s at least the very real prospect that her shift will probably go by quickly. Just as she’s managed to calm her nerves, the ancient cord phone rings, making her jump.

"Hello?" she answers, cradling the receiver against her shoulder. "This is Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where—" she starts, as she’s been taught.

"Um, hello?" a voice replies from the other end.

"Hi, can I help you?" Nitori asks, wondering who would be calling a family restaurant at midnight.

"Hey, I just wanted to like, record a message for you? Since this is your first night."

Nitori slumps. It’s only prerecorded. She’d been hoping for some real human interaction to pass the time, at least for a little bit.

"Um, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about all the legal stuff? So what I wanna give you is like, a backstage look into the life of a security guard!" The voice giggles, and Nitori realizes she’s heard it somewhere before.  "I’ve been working here for a while, I’m actually just finishing now. But I figured, who better to make you feel welcome than me!" There’s a pause. "Weeeell, first off, the manager cuts the power pretty much at 10 PM. Some kinda budget thing. It’s soooo annoying at first but you get used to it. You should have enough in the tablet to check the cameras all night, though. Just in case something’s up!"

After a bit of a struggle, Nitori places a hazy face to the voice. A friend of a friend of a friend, Hatate or something, who she’s met at parties a couple of times. It’s a small world.

"Oh, and the robots! Of course." Nitori sits up straight. This is the part she’s been waiting for. The pizzeria is known for its animatronics, singing and dancing robot animals that move and speak seemingly on their own. They're a wonderful example of audio-animatronic technology, and are powered entirely by internal battery cores, not needing any cables or cords or outside wires. This was the biggest pull of the job for her. Nitori has spent hours idly daydreaming about how they might work, what their inner machinery might look like, and no matter how much research she does it never sates the need to actually see them up close. Machinery and its methods are Nitori’s greatest passion, and she just couldn’t turn down a chance to actually watch over some real-life, functioning animatronics.

Hatate continues, a slight falter in her perky voice. "Weeeellll... To be honest, the robots get a little weird at night? They're allowed to walk around or they like, lock up or something. They used to walk around during the day too but I guess they don't do that anymore, something about security. So, uh, try not to get too close! They might get a little dangerous. Oh, but if you need to you can shut the office doors!"

Nitori glances at the door on her right. It suddenly feels a lot more exposed than it did thirty seconds ago.

"They kinda run on a limited power supply too, just so you know. Don't worry, though. I know it sounds tough but it's like, totally easy. I know you'll do great! See you later!" A muffled click, and Hatate's voice is gone, and Nitori wonders what she's even gotten herself into. Something good, she hopes.

Nitori pulls up the security system app on the tablet she's been given, surveying the various cameras. The pizzeria looks so eerie at night, like the set of a horror movie rather than a fun place for children. Nitori can make out the rows of tables in the dining area, the checkered floors, the posters and children's drawings lining the walls. She flicks the camera view onto the stage, where the animatronics are lined up. All she has to do is keep an eye on them when they start to walk around, and everything will go fine. And maybe if she's lucky she'll get to see how they work from the inside. She can just see it now: a free roaming robot trips and falls over a stray chair! It's missing a leg, and it can't get up! Nitori sees the whole thing from her cameras, and rushes over with her bag of tools to help. She dismantles the robot and flawlessly puts it back together. _Good End_ will flash at the bottom of the screen as Nitori is hired to be a full-time mechanic. She smiles. Piece of cake.

* * *

 

An hour later she gets the feeling she's being watched, and she checks the stage camera again. Her stomach drops when she sees the rabbit is gone without a trace. _It's supposed to be moving around_ , she reminds herself. Still, it's unsettling—she hadn't noticed it move at all. Frantically, she flips through all the cams until she sees it idling backstage, eyes pointed towards the camera. Even so, she peeks out into the hallways, half-expecting to see someone—or some _thing_ —waiting for her.

There's nothing.

* * *

 

The clock ticks over to four A.M. and Nitori's trying to make her mouth feel less dry and get her hands to stop shaking. The more she tries to tell herself she isn't scared (because she _isn't_ , definitely not, what's the worst that could happen), the more nervous she gets. The battery on the tablet displays 53% when she checks it, which should make her feel at least a bit better—it's still above halfway drained—but is only heightening her anxieties. The chicken animatronic has left the stage as well, standing still in the dining hall for the better part of the last hour. Last time she checked, it was nowhere to be found, but the kitchen camera, for all its disabled visuals, revealed some loud clanking noises, so Nitori just assumed the animatronic was having some fun with pots and pans.

The rabbit, on the other hand, is lurking around the west hall in a way that makes Nitori more than nervous. She can see it on the camera, almost grinning in the dim light. It has to be less than ten feet from her. What does one do in a situation like this? She could shut the left side office door, probably. Or she could slam both doors shut and cram herself under the desk until the end of her shift. To be honest, the second option seems best.

As she's flicking through the cameras, thinking about the possibilities, she sees something move out of the corner of her eye, almost as if it's twitching. Slowly, she looks up. Something big, something that smells like rotting garbage, is in the doorway.

Nitori leans over slowly, clicks on her flashlight and feels her heart freeze as she sees the animatronic rabbit leering at her.

Her eyes open wide. She stares at the rabbit. The rabbit stares back into her, as if it's really _looking_ at her, really interested. She tries to move her hand closer to the door switch, but she's paralyzed with fear. Nitori is certain she is about to die.

And then, she isn't.

The thing cranes itself farther into the doorway with a slight groaning noise. It makes a garbled, mechanical sound, almost like it's trying to speak. It moans, as if it's in pain, and manages to half-form something coherent to Nitori. It sounds like "girl".

And the robot turns itself around and walks back down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Nitori wakes up at three in the afternoon with a pounding headache. It takes a moment for her to even process the events of the last fifteen or so hours.

The robots. She'd been at her new job all night, in that little office. When six AM came, the fluorescent lights flickered on and all the robots were safely back on their stage. Nitori dutifully noted that they follow a set of rules that must be programmed into their AI, for her own future reference And she had locked up and driven home in a daze, falling into bed as the sun rose in pink and blue above her.

The image of the rabbit, so close to her, is frozen in her mind for the rest of the day. Over and over, on a loop, she hears it making those pained breathing noises, and saying "girl". Girl girl girl girl girl, until it doesn't sound like a word, only a jumble of letters and sounds, a mystery to solve. Girl.

When she finally gets out of bed and makes her way to the kitchen, she finds Marisa, sitting in the kitchen in a tank top and a pair of boxers despite the November chill in the air. "Hey, how'd night one of the shitfest go?" she asks, shoveling children's cereal into her mouth. Not for the first time, Nitori is glad her housemate never wakes up before one in the afternoon, when she's even home at all. It makes it much easier to coordinate Nitori's own sleep schedule while she shifts over to a night job.

"It was alright," Nitori says. "I think a robot talked to me."

"Sick," Marisa replies, and Nitori can't tell if Marisa's taking it seriously or not. "You want any Lucky Charms?"

"I think I'm good, thanks."

"Alright. I'm going to see Reimu pretty soon, probably won't be back before you leave."

"Have fun."

"Say hi to your robot for me."

"I will."

* * *

 

Nitori isn't really sure why she comes back for the second night. She's never been a quitter, and she still wants to see up close how the robots actually work, but she keeps asking herself if it's really worth it. This time, she drags a small homemade generator into the office with her. She's pretty sure it's safe, and that it'll work. It's only to recharge the tablet, which was dangerously close to running out of battery by the time she left the night before. She doesn't want to try to power the entire restaurant on her own equipment, even though a few extra overhead lights would be nice. But if the management isn't going to give her the basic resources she needs to do her job, then fine. Taking charge has always been the Kawashiro way.

She's less surprised, but still startled when the phone rings again, right on cue, as she settles into the swivel chair. "Hi, welcome back! I promise not to talk too much this time," the same voice from last night says. Nitori's almost sure it's Hatate now, and makes a mental note to ask Momiji about it when she can. "Just want to remind you to check your cameras and everything. Oh, especially that Pirate Cove thing. It's shut down, but like, still has a robot in it? Anyway, he doesn't like to be watched too much. Or too little. Just like, keep an eye out, you know? I think he's hiding something," Hatate says with a smile in her voice.

Nervously, Nitori pulls up the camera. The curtain in Pirate Cove is shut, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

"The robots will like, get more active as they get used to you? So it's a good idea to really be on guard starting tonight. Not that there's any real problem or anything. I'm just saying!" Hatate takes a deep breath and then continues. "Oh yeah, Freddy, you know, the bear, he'll get _way_ active if it's dark enough. He'll probably come right up to you. So, if he sees you in the dark he might think you're a robot, like, without its suit on? And that's not allowed here, like, I don't know if you've ever seen a metal skeleton but they're pretty creepy, especially to kids. So the robots might try to shove you into a spare suit. It's so weird. Just close the doors if you need. Okay, take care!"

* * *

It is four in the morning and Nitori's eyes are beginning to close. She's been cycling through the cameras, watching for anything strange, but things seem to be just as they were the night before. The rabbit is pacing the halls but hasn't come near Nitori, and the chicken is dividing its time between the kitchen and the dining hall, occasionally dipping into the bathrooms. Freddy is onstage, unmoving. The curtain in Pirate Cove is shut, and Nitori kind of doubts that a robot is actually in there - if there is, it must be disabled or out of power, to not roam the restaurant like the others. If this is all they're going to do, Nitori thinks, it might not be so dangerous after all.

Just for a moment, she lets her eyes drift shut. It's so quiet and calm and dark, and the twinkling music-box noises the animatronics play when they come near remind her so much of being a child, of being underwater, of being at home.

* * *

She jolts awake at the sound of heavy footsteps and a terrifying metallic whine, far away but getting closer. What time is it? When did she fall asleep—and why, when she knew—? Nitori silently curses her body's sleep schedule as her heart begins to race. Something mechanical is screaming and running down the hall, and Nitori isn't about to find out what it is. She smashes the buttons for both doors to shut faster than she ever has, and slumps onto the floor.

Whatever it is, it's screeching outside, banging on the door, and Nitori can feel her heart pounding in her ears. Her idea from last night is starting to sound perfect. Dizzy, she crawls under the desk with the tablet, opening it to the cam view just outside the door. There's an animatronic there, one she's never seen: a rusty fox with tattered fur. Nitori can see large parts of its metal skeleton where the suit has been shredded away, and she would almost feel bad for it if it weren't seemingly hell-bent on attacking her. Its jaw swings open and shut in time with its fists—one paw, one clawlike hook—pounding on the door, and she is so still under the desk, hugging her knees and waiting for it to be over.

She doesn't come out from under the desk for an hour and a half, going so far as to drag her heavy backpack in front of her as a kind of shield. Even when the banging has stopped, even when she checks the cameras and watches the fox amble back into Pirate Cove and draw its own curtain, even for a bit after the 6 A.M. alarm bell rings, she stays hunched down there. Nothing feels remotely safe anymore. Even with the lights on. Even outside.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is the worst job you've ever taken," Momiji says, handing Nitori a plate of cucumber slices. It's Wednesday afternoon and this is Nitori's breakfast, despite the time. She likes being at Momiji's house, always so bright and lively – Momiji lives with her extended family, and they raise several litters of Samoyed dogs all together. It's a far cry from the unsettling quiet and darkness of Nitori's little office. Even coming home to an empty house, with Marisa presumably still at Reimu's, had added to Nitori's discomfort, so being with a close friend is just what she needs after last night's near-disaster.

"It's not so bad," Nitori tries, in an attempt to convince herself more than Momiji. She knows that Momiji, who's worked in security for years and has yet to find a place she doesn't hate, is certain to disagree. "All I really do is watch over the robots..."

"Oh, right, those things. They're so creepy." Momiji shudders. "Their eyes look… dead."

"They're quirky," Nitori pouts, popping a slice of cucumber into her mouth. "Kids like them."

"Even during the day they're horrifying. I can't even imagine what they must look like at night."

"They just walk around, they don't really bother me. For the most part." The fox pounding on the door briefly flashes in her memory, and she decides not to mention it. It would only fuel Momiji's fire.

"If they did, I hope you'd shut them down," Momiji mutters.

Nitori decides to quickly change the subject. "Hey, I wanted to ask - who's that girl Aya brings to parties sometimes?"

"You mean Hatate?"

"I think so?"

"Tall, brown hair, always has twin tails, acts like a teenager, still has a flip phone?"

"Yeah. Does she say 'like' a lot?"

"Oh, all the time." Momiji frowns. "I haven't seen her lately, though. Maybe she and Aya broke up."

"I'd ask, but I don't really know Aya that well."

"Aya's fucking annoying, don't even bother. Why'd you want to know about Hatate?"

"Oh, well, I think she... Worked at Freddy's before me."

"What?"

"I can't say for sure, but the last security guard left me a couple of messages, and it sort of sounded like Hatate."

Momiji snorts. "No way. That's wild."

"I know."

"I mean, I know she has a night job, but I just can't see her working in a creepy pizza place."

"I'm not really even sure if it is her. It just sounds like her."

"Could be. If I see her around I'll ask for you."

Nitori kind of hopes it is Hatate after all. It would be nice, at least, to know someone who had already gone through the same position, who could maybe offer some personalized support outside of the messages on the phone.

* * *

 

Nitori's sitting on her own kitchen floor, tinkering with her generator, when Marisa bursts through the front door, her hands heavy with swinging plastic bags. "Yo, Nitori!"

"What's up?"

"Can you help me get these? I heard your restaurant's haunted."

"Haunted might be taking it a little far."

Marisa shrugs, handing a few of the bags to Nitori. Nitori silently thanks Marisa as she sees that they're full of groceries. She's learned to expect the worst whenever Marisa brings bags home. "I dunno, Marisa says. "I was reading about it. There are all kinds of rumors, it's pretty much one of the most occult places in this area. Lots of people died there."

"What?"

"Yeah, some guy killed like five kids. Never found the bodies. And after that shit started goin' down with those robots. What's it like when you're there?"

"They just walk around."

"Didn't you say one talked to you?"

"Well, yeah. But..." But what? _It's not threatening_? One rushed her door and left her cowering under the desk. _But I'm not scared_? She thinks about the rabbit leaning close to her and making those guttural noises, and how frightened she's been on both nights.

"I think I'm going to do some research. There has to be a reason for all this. A fault in their machinery, or..."

Marisa groans. "I'm tellin' you it's haunted! But, okay, find out for yourself. Just lemme know before you leave tonight."

Nitori retreats to her room once the generator is fixed up to her liking. She looks up as much as she can, digging into news archives, and gets much more than she bargained for. Sanitation problems and failed health inspections, which the restaurant's somehow squeezed by with supposedly minimal effort. Reports of the animatronics having a "foul smell", and parents complaining that they seemed to leak blood and mucus from the eyes and mouths. Nitori could have told anyone that for free, having been inches away from the rabbit – Bonnie, she learns, they have names and the rabbit is Bonnie. She'd never bothered to find them out, other than Freddy, who everyone knows. The more she reads about the pizzeria, the worse it seems to get, to the point where she wonders how the place is even open.

Then there's the "Bite of '87", which makes Nitori physically recoil. One of the robots somehow cut through a child's skull and tore off the frontal lobe. Management seems to have tried to cover that up, too. Nitori had never even heard about it. And, true to what Marisa said, there certainly was an incident from not so long ago with five missing, murdered children, lured into the back room by someone in a Freddy Fazbear suit, their bodies never found. It all makes her shudder, chilled down to the bone.

After thinking on it, she outlines the most viable theories in her notepad:

  * malfunctioning/corrupt AI
  * corrupt mgmt (likely even w/o animatronic problems)
  * haunted – dead kids



She looks down at what she's written, hoping something will pop out at her, that she'll solve this whole thing on her own. But nothing does, and she doesn't like any of the possibilities.

* * *

 

"You still goin' in?" Marisa asks when Nitori emerges from her room around 11 at night.

"I don't know," Nitori says, truthfully.

"Well. If it was me, I'd go and burn the place down. Then call Reimu's whole family in to exorcise the ashes. Do everybody a favor."

"I think I'm going," she says, but she's unsure. She might get to the restaurant and decide she can't even go in.

"Hey, 's totally fine. But if you do, just make sure you come back, alright?"

"I will," Nitori says. She hopes she does, anyway.

"Shake on it."

Nitori holds her hand out to let Marisa slap her palm and vigorously shake her wrist. Only then does Marisa look satisfied. "That's a promise," Nitori says, for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi momiji is a grumpy mall cop


	4. Chapter 4

Nitori considers skipping work, she really does. She could call in sick. She could conveniently have a family emergency. She could get on a one-way bus going across the country. She has a thousand and one options, but for some reason she gets in her car and makes it to the restaurant for 11:45, for the third night in a row.

She's grown to expect the nightly phone message by now – Hatate's always been adept at talking at every opportunity. "Welcome to your third night! I remember my first week here like it was yesterday." There's that giggle again. "It gets pretty stressful from here on out. So not worth it, I know. But I'll leave you to it!"

_What could be more stressful than the past two nights?_ Nitori wonders, but keeps listening.

"Oh, okay, so I had this idea? Like if a robot tries to shove you in a suit maybe you can pretend you're dead! So they'll think you're a suit without a skeleton instead of a skeleton without a suit. You know, the suits have all these nasty wires in them. Trust me, you don't wanna get stuck in there. I heard that, like, all that would come out in one piece were your eyeballs and teeth. Pretty gross."

Nitori suddenly wants to go home more than she ever has.

"Okay, maybe I made it sound a little too awful. Don't wanna scare you! You've made it this far, I know you'll keep being great. So, um, good luck! See ya around."

* * *

Being in the restaurant feels like entering another world. The air is stale, and her pupils dilate as she struggles to see beyond the confines of her office. She feels safer when she monitors the cameras, watching the robots shift around the restaurant. So when Bonnie makes its way outside her door, at least she isn't startled. She pushes the door light on to see better.

The velour of its suit is filthy and matted, thick clear fluids leaking from around its eyes. A part of Nitori desperately wants to shut the door. But another, larger part says that Bonnie is a machine, and Nitori knows the language of machines better than anything else. It's only a machine. There's no danger.

"Hi," she tries. She instantly feels a wave of shame for it, because she's trying to start up a conversation with a machine.

Bonnie struggles, its inner workings making a sad mechanical whine. "Hel-lo," it manages, eventually, distorted and glitching, but coherent enough for Nitori.

_Holy shit_ , Nitori thinks. _Holy shit_.

"You understand me?"

It makes a garbled noise, its huge round eyes blinking slowly.

"It's okay," she says. "I'm an engineer. Mechanic. I won't hurt you."

Bonnie makes a long string of mechanical noises and strangled groans. And then, "Friend."

"Yes!" Nitori says, her eyes wide. "Yes. Friend." She swings her legs excitedly. She can't believe this. She's actually _talking_ with a robot. "I don't know, the girl who worked here before me made it sound like you were dangerous. But I don't think you are."

The rabbit just stares at her. It sounds scarily like it's breathing.

"You don't attack me," she says, to clarify, looking into its soulless eyes.

The rabbit makes that breathy, uncomfortable moaning noise again. "Girl," it croaks.

"Because I'm a girl?"

It looks like it agrees.

"But the fox does attack. Is it... angry with me?"

The rabbit reaches out, brushes Nitori's tablet. Nitori's confused for a second, then starts checking each camera one by one. Pirate Cove is still, but instead of its usual OUT OF ORDER sign, it reads _IT'S ME_. Bonnie makes a small noise like a yip.

"Pirate Cove?" Nitori asks, confused. "What about it?"

Bonnie's jaw twitches. "Help."

A chill runs through her body. She'd had a small suspicion that Bonnie had only been saying jumbled, prerecorded things and that she'd been making sense of it on her own. But there is absolutely no way this place programmed one of its robots to say "help".

"Pr- _rrrrrrr_ -otect," it continues, its mechanical voice sticking for a second or two.

"Oh," Nitori says, in the smallest voice. She isn't sure what she's supposed to do.

Bonnie turns its back on her, starts to leave the office. It swivels its head to look back at Nitori, as if it's expecting her to follow.

"I'm sorry, I can't leave the office while I'm working..." She feels so small, sitting down in her chair. She really does want to help, in a way – to at least see what Bonnie is trying to tell her. "Not allowed."

It stares back at her for a second, and then nods its head, padding back down the west hall.

* * *

Around 4, the chicken appears at the eastern door, all of a sudden, pressing its face against the window. Nitori can see it even without flicking the door light on. Chica is even scarier than Bonnie, she thinks – birds shouldn't have teeth, for one, but there's something even more unsettling about its body and its eyes.

_It won't hurt you_ , she tells herself for the hundredth time. "Hi, Chica," she calls softly.

"Hi!" it crows back. Its voice is higher than Bonnie's, and less glitchy. "Let's eat."

"I already ate, thank you," she says, trying to be polite. "I'm Nitori." Its beak twitches, and she's struck by the brief thought that she hopes it isn't planning on eating her. "Can you understand me too?"

"Ni-to-ri," it chirps.

"Um, I guess so, then?" She spins in her chair a bit. "How come you haven't come to see me like Bonnie?"

It places its hand – and that might be what's so unsettling, that a bird shouldn't have hands – on its chest. "Let's eat," it repeats.

"I know," Nitori says. "You've been in the kitchen and dining area the whole time. Do you like it there?"

It seems to be tugging at its bib, but doesn't have the opposable thumbs for it.

"Here, let me help." She reaches over and pulls it clean off from where it's attached by Velcro to Chica's front. On the backside, sloppy and in thick, streaky, dark brown letters – Nitori really, really hopes it isn't blood – are, again, the words _ITS ME_.

Nitori shivers. "Oh," she says, in a small voice. She decides to try Marisa's theory out. "Are you... one of the children that went missing here? Do you remember?"

Chica just opens its beak and snaps it shut again. Nitori catches a whiff of the rotten smell inside the suit, and tries not to look away.

"I'm sorry," she says. It's the only thing she can think of.

The robot keeps looking at her, trying to make a gesture with its hands.

"You want me to... help you?" Nitori asks, barely a whisper.

Chica's eyes seem to widen and light up. And then, for some reason, it's gone, slipping back into the darkness of the hallway. Nitori sees it a few minutes later in the dining area. She wonders if it wanted her to follow it, like Bonnie did.

From the tablet, Nitori watches Freddy move around, though it never comes near her. The other two drop by her office a few times each, but they don't talk to her anymore. She greets them, reminds them both she can't leave her office during her work hours, and that she'll help however she can as soon as she can. And when the dawn comes, Nitori's thoughts are racing. More than anything, she feels surreal. She desperately wants to make some record of the past few hours, how these robots interacted with her. She doesn't know what, but something is definitely going on below the surface. And, it seems that whether she likes it or not, she's going to be the person who figures it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i put six commas in one sentence and i dont regret a thing
> 
> IT'S ME


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> emetophobia warning up in here

When Nitori wakes up on Thursday afternoon, her phone glows with two messages from Momiji.

 **2:38 PM** : hey can I call you  
 **2:40 PM** : it's important

 _sure_ , Nitori types back, hoping it isn't too late.

Momiji calls roughly three minutes later. "I talked to Aya," she says, sounding panicked.

 _It must be important if you voluntarily talked to Aya_ , Nitori thinks, but decides now isn't the time for sarcasm. Instead she says, "About what?"

"She called me and she was. Really upset. Hatate hasn't talked to her in almost a week and she got scared, I guess. I thought she was saying they'd had a fight or something but..." Momiji gives the heaviest sigh.

"Oh no," Nitori says, fearing the worst.

"Aya broke into her apartment. It looks like nobody's been there in a while. About the same time Aya hasn't heard from her. It's... not looking good."

Nitori can't make her voice come out.

"I also confirmed with Aya that she worked the night shift at that pizza place. You said she left you messages, right? What are they like? Can you tell where she is from them?"

"No," Nitori says sadly. "They're just telling me how to do my job, and little tips... Like I said, I wasn't even sure it was actually her."

Momiji sighs again, and Nitori knows on the other end of the line she's pressing her fingers to her temples. "Let me know if you find anything out, okay?"

"I will."

Things are going from bad to worse and Nitori was so very wrong to get her hopes up about this place.

* * *

"Hi! Wow, night four for you. This is great! I knew you could do it." Something about her voice sounds off, and Nitori almost shudders, knowing now that Hatate is a missing person. "Um, I'm really sorry but I'm kinda having a hard night here, so I might not be able to leave you a message tomorrow." Hatate tries to giggle, but it sounds strained. "At least I left them, like, when I could, you know?"

There's a loud banging sound, and Nitori jumps before she realizes it's in the recording. Her skin prickles as Hatate continues, raising her voice over the bangs. "Oh, could you do me one favor? If you have time can you check those suits, you know, the empty ones in the back room? I kinda always wanted to see what was in them. And the heads back there. They're just so creepy."

The banging in the recording gets louder, more forceful. _No_ , Nitori thinks. "I'll – hold out as long as I can," Hatate says, her voice audibly trembling. "They're getting really aggressive all of a sudden for no reason. I mean, maybe it won't be so bad if I just stay here? Like, you know – "

There's a loud screech, and the chime of a music box.

Hatate screams.

The recording stops.

* * *

Nitori can't move.

* * *

Light. She needs light. The doors aren't enough and the small overhead in her office isn't enough, she needs _light_ , every lightbulb in the building to be shining.

The fuse box takes a while to locate. Nitori eventually figures out that it's backstage, surrounded by animatronic heads that look like they're watching her in the dark. She's had enough of this, and she's about ready to haul her generator over. It's not going to power the entire place, and she isn't sure if she even has the right cables. But she is a Kawashiro, and she knows if it came to it she could install her generator blindfolded with nothing more than copper wire. Fortunately, it doesn't have to come to that, as when she opens the fuse box there's already a transfer switch for a generator. She flicks it on, and the restaurant comes to life, harsh fluorescent lights gleaming off the floors.

"Assholes," Nitori whispers, realizing this thing has been hooked up the _entire time_. And her composure nearly breaks for a second time within fifteen minutes.

She does a quick camera check, eyes stinging with held-back tears. The animatronics are all lined up on stage, the curtain in Pirate Cove is shut, and it almost feels like a real restaurant, where nothing bad has ever happened.

She makes her way to every back room, every supply closet, searching for – she doesn't know what.

In the closet nearest the office, though, she finds it.

Shoved in the back is an old, yellow Freddy suit, with no endoskeleton inside. It's limp and heavy, and she has to drag it out, gagging on the stench. She tries not to look too closely at it, tries not to think about what might be inside it.

She undoes the back, lets the head fall forward, and nearly throws up as her fears are confirmed.

Nitori shakes, eyes filling with tears. Bloodied and decayed as the body inside is, she can see two limp, brunette twin tails, tied with wide purple bows, ripped nearly to shreds. Hatate. "No," she says, so quietly, gagging again as she takes in how broken the body is, pierced over and over with screws and wires, covered in thick, dark, dried blood.

She can't even scream, just whines, and throws her guts up.

When she's stopped shaking so badly, she drags herself to her feet, feeling weak and cold. She feels so alone, and at the same time, like she's being watched. She keeps hurriedly glancing over her shoulder as she makes her way to the stage.

The animatronics are still lined up in their row. Nitori goes for Bonnie first, undoing the suit at the back of the neck to disable its battery pack. Up close like this, it stinks, and she tries not to look too closely at the dark stains around its mouth and eyes.

The metal inside is corroding, but Nitori can't help but find a shred of admiration – even in her current situation – for how the endoskeletons interlock so smoothly with their suits. Other than the smell and the rust, though, nothing seems to be off. Frantic, she checks both the others, letting their suits slip off their skeletons.

What had she expected? More dead bodies? The suits are already full with metal. _But_ , Marisa's voice inside her head says, _they never found the bodies of those kids_.

The kitchen seems to be in place, despite her frantic examination of every place she can get at. The halls don't have any hidden doors, and there's nothing in the dining room but tables and chairs.

There's only one place left to check. She walks over, feeling heavy and leaden, and pulls the curtains of Pirate Cove wide open.

In the bright lights, she can see everything. It looks about the same as she expected – a fading backdrop of the sea, a replica pirate ship. It clearly hasn't been touched for years. And it smells even worse than the rest of the place.

Foxy is standing motionless at the center of the stage, brandishing its hook hand. Nitori takes a quick glance at the exposed metal of its legs, the holes in its suit. But this is not what she came for. If the other animatronics didn't have anything but metal and code inside, then Foxy, tattered as it is, definitely won't.

There's a little platform on the ship where she assumes Foxy must have stood when the attraction was open, a raised box with small hinges. It must be the way to open up the ship, to get to the mechanics inside. Slowly, she pulls it open, and the whole floor of the ship comes away with it easily.

Stowed in the corner, under a sheet that's gone stiff with age and dried fluids, are five tiny, rotting bodies, covered in blood.

Nitori can't take her eyes off the bones sticking out of what remains of the flesh, and it takes her a moment to even process what's in front of her. And she turns and runs, on weak legs.

The next thing she knows she's collapsed on the floor in the dining area, her legs trembling and her phone in her hands. The clock says it's almost 2 AM. Resisting the urge to throw up again, she dials Marisa's number.

"'Sup."

"Marisa," Nitori gasps. "Can you come get me. I, I don't know how to – " The image of the pile of bodies flashes before her eyes again, and she heaves, nearly choking. "Help," she manages.

Marisa swears loudly. "Alright. Stay put, okay? 'M on my way."

Nitori doesn't remember anything from the time she hangs up until the time Marisa arrives, her voice echoing through the empty restaurant. When she makes it to the dining area, she runs to Nitori's side. "Oh, shit," Marisa says.

Nitori looks up at her weakly. "There are dead bodies," she manages. "H-Hatate, and in Pirate Cove, there's kids, and – " she gags on her own words.

"Nitori, it's okay. I'm here. Uh, I'll take care of everything, don't worry."

And Nitori blacks out.


	6. Chapter 6

Nitori wakes up in her own bed, and for a few blissful seconds nothing feels real. Then she hears a dog barking, close to her bed, followed by Momiji's voice. "Heel, boy. Heel."

"Momiji?" Nitori says, her voice heavy from sleeping. She pulls the blankets from over her head and squints to see Momiji sitting on the floor, one of her big fluffy Samoyeds next to her, its tongue happily lolling out of its mouth.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Momiji says, sounding relieved. "We were all really worried."

"We?"

"Aya's here too. Hold on, I'll go get Marisa. She wanted to see you once you were awake. I don't think she's slept."

Nitori presses her face into her pillow. The whole ordeal comes back to her, and she feels an immediate rush of disgust, almost throwing up again right before Marisa enters the room. Momiji must have been right; it looks like she's been awake for days.

"Hey, Nitori. How're you feeling?"

Nitori can't answer at first. "Okay, I think." She runs her fingers over the familiar material of the blankets. "What happened?"

"How much do you remember?" Marisa asks.

"You came to get me and I passed out..."

"Ah, yeah. I called the cops to tell 'em about the bodies. I wanted to take you home after but they made me go with you to the hospital. And now you're here."

"I don't remember any hospital."

"Yeah, you were pretty out of it but they said you're a'right. Just disoriented, said to call 'em back if you wake up and think it's 1922 or something. Uh, you do know what year it is, right?" Nitori tells her. "Oh, good. You're probably okay."

"Um, how long have I been out?"

Marisa looks at the ceiling. "It's Friday afternoon. We got home from the hospital at around 4 and you've been conked out since a little before then. So 'bout 12 hours."

Nitori can't say anything, just looks down at her own hands, limp on top of the covers.

Marisa's voice is soft, uncharacteristically so. "It's been on the news. That place is pretty much done for. Oh, your boss also called and said you're fired for fucking with the animatronics or something? I told him to shove it."

"Thanks," Nitori says weakly. It's a low blow to be fired on top of what happened last night, but she doesn't really care. It's not like she's going back anyway.

"Holy shit, also, there are a bunch of reporters outside. Aya's been fighting them off, you should see. Well, actually, no, cause they all want to talk to you and I'm... not sure if you really wanna do that right now."

"I don't want to even think about it."

"Probably a good choice. Anyway, we're all here, okay? Yell if you need anything."

"Can I have a hug," Nitori asks quietly. She doesn't really want to be alone, not now.

Marisa smiles warmly. "Of course." She wraps Nitori into her arms, and Nitori doesn't want to let go.

* * *

Nitori's invited, for some reason, but she doesn't go to the memorial service for Hatate and the children. She curls up in her own bed, feeling like she's the one who did something wrong, like it's all her fault. Marisa sits silently at her side, occasionally squeezing Nitori's hand. _I'm here_ , she seems to be saying without words. It means the world, to not feel alone.

* * *

The restaurant stays open another month, somehow, but doesn't hire another security guard after Nitori. Some people, Momiji among them, say it's because no one would want to work there after what happened. Another rumor (supported by Marisa, of course) goes that the animatronics settled down after Nitori left, that she broke their curse by finding the children's bodies and giving them and Hatate the proper justice, and so they no longer moved at night. Nitori doesn't know what she believes anymore.

* * *

It's so hard to talk about.

* * *

The restaurant closes for good in January, windows boarded and signs removed. Unchecked weeds crawl up the side of the building. Nitori continues to avoid driving by it.

* * *

Soon after, Aya invites her over. "I'll listen," she says. "I'll believe you."

The first thing Nitori notices about Aya's apartment is a beautifully framed black and white closeup of Hatate, curled up in bed, eyes warm and loving and alive. "I took that photo," Aya says. "I heard... about how it happened. I promised her I'd never show anybody else that picture, but I, um, I want to remember her this way instead."

Nitori tells her almost everything. Almost.

* * *

It's been three years, which should be a long enough time for the memories of the darkened restaurant and the bloody animatronics to fade. Sometimes, it's getting better.

She goes to the demolition of the old building with Aya, wondering if she should feel satisfied that the place is gone. To be honest, she is, at least a little. But on the whole, she thinks she needs more time, more closure, more healing.

"I had a dream about her a couple days ago," Aya says. She has her camera around her neck as always, but, uncharacteristically, has only snapped one shot the entire time they've been sitting together.

"About Hatate?"

"Yeah." Aya pops the lens cap off, then back on. "I don't know, it was kinda weird. She just told me 'thank you'. It's strange, right? You were the one... I mean, that type of dream usually happens to the person who..."

"No, I get it," Nitori reassures her. "Maybe she wanted to thank you for being there for her. Or for being her girlfriend."

Aya's head hangs heavy. "I really miss her."

"I know... I'm sorry."

"It's fucked up. I still think about how fucked up it is." Aya laughs, bitter and cold. "I mean, at least she isn't missing, right? That's what I've been telling myself. But it's so..."

Nitori pretends not to see the tears welling in the corners of Aya's eyes, and gently pats her on the back. All this time, she's never told Aya how she thinks she heard Hatate's last moments, preserved on a phone that now lies somewhere in the pile of rubble across the street from them.

"It's not fair," Aya whimpers.

Nitori won't tell her now. Maybe she never will.

"No, it isn't fair," she agrees, pulling a nearly-crying Aya into a hug.

At least she can spare Aya the details of how scared Hatate sounded, how painful her last scream was. It will haunt Nitori for life, but at the very least, she can give Aya that.

* * *

Aya snaps one last shot of the demolished building as the sun begins to set over it. "We should go," she says as she lowers the camera.

Nitori can't agree more.


End file.
